What is meant by “sentence structure” ?
It is a certain grammatical arrangement of words in a sentence telling us where and how each of these components should be placed in order to merge, blend, and make meaning.
1. Parts of a sentence
A sentence in English Language consists of “at least” a subject and a verb but can also have other components:
· Subject: it is or noun or pronoun that performs the action. Basically, it answers the question “who?”. A subject is mostly placed in the beginning of the sentence, especially in declarative sentences.
Ex:
The baby keeps crying.
He pays well.
No one came to the birthday party.
· Verb: In most cases, the verb comes after the subject and it identifies the action that is done by the latter (by the subject). All verbs are concerned
Ex:
She is famous
Naim is writing a letter
I feel tired
· Object: It is a noun or pronoun that receives the action done by the subject. Objects are of two types and they are:
Direct Object
It is a noun or pronoun that receives the action directly. It answers the question ‘what?’. Direct objects appear immediately after the verb and are the primary objects in the sentence.
For example:
Indirect Object
It is basically a noun / pronoun that is a secondary object. It can be known by asking the question ‘to whom’. When there is an indirect object in a sentence, we generally place it after the verb and before the direct object.
Ex ::
- My mom bought me a new pair of shoes.
- I offered him a piece of chocolate.
- They gave them notebooks.
- He lent his friend a pen.
· Complement
It is a word that is required to complete the meaning of a sentence. A complement can be an adjective a name, a position or a profession.
Ex:
Furthermore, complements are divided into two types “based on which component they speak about”. The two types of complement are,
Subject Complement
It is a word that expresses the quality or identity or condition of the subject
Ex:
Object Complement
It expresses the quality or identity or condition of an object.
Ex:
- They made her angry.
- The students elected Hadjer the class leader.
- They named their daughter, Serine.
- Imane met her friend, Ryan.
- Nobody found the movie interesting.
· Adjuncts: an adjunct is a word (or a phrase) that grants more information about an action, an incident (event), a quality and so on. Adjuncts may include adverbs and adverb clauses. We can discern them by asking the questions (When, Where, Why, How, How often, To what extent). Adjuncts can be used in the beginning, middle, or end of the sentence. A sentence could have more than one adjunct.
Ex:
- Yesterday, we met at the park. (when and where)
- He is very tired. (to what extent)
- Due to her ill-health, she could not come home for the family reunion. (why
- My father reads the books everyday. (how often)
- This workout routine is extremely tiring (to what extent).
In Grammar, Sentences may have various structures:
- It / is raining.
(Subject / Verb).
- I / have / a pencil.
(Subject / Verb / Object).
- Leila / is / a teacher.
(Subject / Verb / Complement).
- She / went / downstairs.
(Subject / Verb / Adjunct).
- Someone / found / the movie / controversial.
(Subject / Verb / Object / Complement)
- It / is / her birthday / next week.
(Subject / Verb / Object / Adjunct)
- Neo / bought / himself / a hat.
(Subject / Verb / Indirect Object / Direct Object)
- Normally, / the weather / is / nice.
(Adjunct / Subject / Verb / Complement).
- Every year, / we / visit / the orphanage.
(Adjunct / Subject / Verb / Object).
- Yesterday, / his father / bought / him / a car.
Adjunct / Subject / Verb / I. Object / D. Object
- Aminata / went / to the store / two days ago.
Subject / Verb / Adjunct / Adjunct
- Last year, / my friends and I / went / on holidays/ to Spain.
Adjunct / Subject / Verb / Adjunct / Adjunct.